frameless packs arent for everyone, you have to be careful how you pack them, you're more likely to feel something sticking into your back,
plus the more minimalist hip belt on the hornet means it won't support weight as well.
people going for the lighter minimalist backpacks are basically often putting up with less comfort to save weight.
250g isnt that much weight to save in my book to run the risk of being less comfortable..but for ultralighters saving the weight is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to them.
i rmember reading a review of a jacket on an ultralight site and the reviewer was having a major go at the manufacturers for giving him a jacket that was 60g heavier than the advertised weight.. despite the fact it was because the design had actually been improved by adding an elastic hem because there was no way to adjust it. and all the ultralighters were going on the forum also critical about the extra 60g...
so thats the type of person the ultralight packs like the hornet are made for....
so are you willing to run the risk of less comfort to save 250 grams.... have you gone through all your gear and weighed it all to see where you could save weight? you might actually be able to save 250gm somewhere else....
you have to bear in mind people who use these packs have often done just that to save every gram possible so they are carrying the bare minimum and will sacrifice comfort and push safety boundaries a bit to get the weight they are carrying right down to make it more tolerable to use the less supportive ultralight packs like the hornet.. some of these guys are only carrying 2.5 to 3.5 kilos of gear in their packs and they can often only do that outside of the coldest months... how much weight are you going to carry in it in your worst case scenario? if you're buying it from a shop, they should have weights in the shop you can put in the pack so you can see how it feels with the amount of weight you are going to carry. then you'll get an idea of what it will be like if you can imagine carrying the pack with that weight for several hours... but you still have to use your imagination as to what the pack will really feel like after having it on your back for hours at a time for a couple of days or more.... if there's anything you're not that happy with in the shop, then it will become more accentuated with time and may really get on your nerves....
i dont like heavy packs myself , but i don't like ultralight ones either for multi day trips. a few hundred grams extra in pack weight can equate to a lot more comfort and peace of mind on the trail. i go for black diamond packs., their speed packs would be about the only 40 litres down under but those have no external pockets, otherwise the infinity 50 be the closest they have without having to drop down to 30 litres.
fitting a weeks tramping kit into an overnight pack
http://www.backpacker.com/skills-how-to ... eshows/183lighten your pack
http://www.backpacker.com/master-class- ... ival/16785
from the land of the long white clouds...